Karen. Born in Denmark to a wealthy family, although she grew up in a good food, her personality is not delicate, she likes to go out hunting with boys, and she likes to talk to them about national affairs, so she rarely appears in the pile of women.
In 1913, when Karen was 27 years old, she liked Baron Burleson's brother and took the initiative to attack, but the latter just played with her, and after the two had a relationship, they snubbed her aside, out of gambling, and out of the desire to leave the cold place of Denmark and avoid the many constraints on the noble unmarried girls here, so she turned to the Count of Perleson, because she heard that he wanted to open a farm in Africa, of course, she also wanted to be the "countess", so she talked to Burleson about marriage, thinking that the two were suitable for marriage.
Baron Burlison had known her for many years, and the two were usually good friends, although there was no love but they did not hate each other, he knew very well what she wanted to marry himself, and he also wanted her money, so he agreed.
Since they were going to get married, the african farm business had to be taken seriously, so Karen's mother gave them a sum of money so that they could buy a farm in Africa and live for a while, and then, of course, they had to rely on themselves.
So Burleson went to Africa to find farms and houses, and Karen then took several carriages of luggage on a train bound for Kenya in East Africa.
As the train pulled into the African plains, Karen looked out the window at the vast world, felt the breeze on her cheeks, and couldn't help but feel a subtle feeling in her heart, which was a very different place from her birthplace, where everything was permeated with a primitive atmosphere, a pure land that had not been contaminated by modern civilization.
At this time, she is full of expectations and a little uncertain about her future life.
The train suddenly stopped on the way, and not far away, a white man and a black man each carried a long ivory toward the train, and several black people in the train immediately came out to meet him.
Karen was curious and asked the white man, "What kind of big man are you?" The trains all stopped for you. ”
The white man handed the ivory to the black man on the train and replied, "The train will stop here." ”
Asked again what she had come here to do, she replied, "My husband and I are going to come here to open a farm." ”
The man smiled disapprovingly and then introduced himself. His name was Dennis, and he hunted in Africa and sometimes traveled extensively.
Later, Karen learns from Dennis's close friend that Dennis was a nobleman from England who graduated from Oxford University, and because of his natural desire for freedom and adventure, he came to Africa and engaged in things that suited his character— hunting and traveling.
When she arrived in Kenya, Karen did not see Burleson, but an African native named Farayarden came forward to say that he had been sent by Perleson to greet her, and said that Berlison was at the Mudika Club at the moment. So Karen immediately went to the Muddigal Club to find Burleighson.
The Mudiga Club, a very famous local club, was a place where men gathered to talk about state, women, and drink, and when Karen walked in, she was immediately asked out by an administrator on the grounds that "women are not allowed here." ”
Karen had to walk out, but where was Belison? She had just scanned all the men in the club and hadn't spotted Perleson.
Just as she was wondering what to do, Burleithon hurried from a distance, and Karen asked slightly angrily, "Where did you just go?" Burleighson said, "I was just arranging things." ”
Then he said, "The wedding will take place in an hour, so you can change your clothes." Asking her again if she had the ring ready, she nodded.
The wedding was held in the open space in front of the hotel, and many nobles from Britain and Sweden who had come here to engage in politics or business came to participate, and Karen, who had traveled a long way, did not have time to rest before she hurriedly changed into her wedding dress that she had already prepared, put on a ring, and walked out of the hotel with Burleson's hand to accept everyone's blessings.
A nobleman happily accepted the task of a witness, but when he read the testimony, he did not even know Karen's name, which shows how hasty the wedding was and how careless Perleson was about the marriage.
At the wedding feast, an old nobleman named Dramy asked Karen, "Where are you from?" Karen replied politely, "Dane." Drammy said disapprovingly, "Oh, that's a small country on the border of Germany." He asked Karen provocatively, "If there is a war, which side will Denmark take?" Karen replied unashamedly: "I hope it is my own side, our country has such a tradition." ”
Draramy nodded with satisfaction, and his attitude toward her changed from disdain to respect.
Over there, Burleson was holding a glass of wine and chatting with a woman, Karen was a little unhappy, she had known Berlison for some years, she knew that Berlison had always had the habit of picking flowers and weeds, this time if it wasn't for her ex-boyfriend, she might not choose to marry Berlisson, so for a moment she regretted her decision, but at this point, she could only admit it, so she went up and asked Berlison: "When will you take me home?" Only then did Burleson break off the conversation with the lady and take Karen two hours to drive back to their new home.
Farayarden, an indigenous African, followed, as he was a servant employed by their family.
Arriving outside the new door, Karen saw nearly ten Africans already dressed and waiting there, the servants That Burleson had hired for the new family.
Karen saw the friendliness in their eyes, so she smiled kindly at them as well.
After dinner, Karen and Burleson talked about the farm's business plan.
Burleson said: "We didn't buy cattle, we were going to grow coffee. ”
Karen said with some disappointment, "This is not the original plan. ”
Berlison: "You're in Denmark, and I have to make a decision." ”
Karen: "We've already talked about it, we don't know anything about growing coffee, you plant it, it grows?" My mom invested in this farm. ”
Burrison laughed and said, "You paid for my title, but you didn't buy me." ”
The next morning, Burleson went out hunting without saying goodbye to Karen, and only learned from the maid when Karen got up.
Just after getting married, her husband did not quit, leaving Karen alone in the face of an empty house and a large number of luggage that had not yet been placed, Karen was disappointed and angry, she once wanted to pick up the luggage and leave, but soon calmed down - this is her own choice of marriage, she can only face it hard.
Karen asked the farm manager to show her and Perleson's farm, and the farm manager led her around the farm and said, "The count said to open 400 hectares." ”
By this time there were already several Africans in the field helping to reclaim the land.
Karen asked the farm manager, "How long do you have to plant before you get a harvest?" ”
Farm manager: "It's going to be three to four years." ”
Karen took a deep breath and said, "So what have we lived on for the past four years?" ”
The farm manager looked solemn and said, "I'm just here to earn a salary, and if you don't have enough money, you'd better tell me now." ”
Karen said: "We only plant 200 hectares. ”
Planting 200 hectares also requires the reclamation of a large area of land, and the existing manpower is certainly not enough, and the farm manager tells her that she can go to the chief, and only the chief can find more people for her. So Karen took her servant Farayarden to see the chief.
Karen asked the chief to arrange for someone to come to the farm to help her, and she was very earnest, and the chief agreed, but the chief also believed that coffee should not be planted on such a high ground.
After thanking the chief, Karen hurried back and saw an African lad looking at her on crutches as she passed a junction. His right foot was badly festered.
Karen immediately asked him to come to her house to rub the medicine, and the African boy was unmoved, and Karen stimulated him: "Smart people should do this, I believe you are a smart person." ”
Sure enough, it wasn't long before the African boy went to look for her.
Within a few days, all the luggage had been lined up under Karen's arrangement, but Burleson hadn't returned. Karen put on her hunting suit and took a shotgun to the forest to look for Perleson, but unexpectedly encountered the African lion, and just when she did not know how to deal with it, Dennis appeared, who was well versed in the habits of various animals, and quickly drove the African lion away.
Karen invited Dennis and one of his friends to stay for dinner. Because the three of them were like-minded and had a good conversation that night, Karen told them a long story, and they sang songs for Karen, and the harmonious and pleasant atmosphere made Karen forget the unhappiness of her new marriage.
Before leaving, Dennis gave Karen a delicately crafted pen and said, "You're good at telling stories, so write them down later." ”
Karen was deeply moved, and Dennis was the first to see that she had a talent for storytelling and writing.
A few months later, on a day of heavy rain, Karen finally waited for Berlison on a road leading to the forest.
Burleson saw her standing there alone and asked her with some emotion, "What are you here for?" ”
Karen said, "I want you to go home." ”
This is the first time that the husband and wife have shown their feelings.
After a night of entanglement, Karen told Berlison that she wanted a child, and Perleson nodded.
Karen smiled happily, and she began to envision the future of the two of them, and their children.
Soon, World War I broke out, and the war continued to Africa, the most recent of which was just over 400 kilometers away from Kenya. The outbreak of war suddenly filled the people living here (especially the nobles from various countries who came here to do business or politics), and these days, men are discussing ways to deal with it.
Burleson decided to go to the front. Despite Karen's repeated pleas not to go, he went without hesitation, leaving a 200-hectare farm for her to face alone.
It didn't take long for Burleson to send her a message—he asked Karen to arrange for someone to send a batch of tents and some necessary supplies to the front.
During the war, the people were panicked, and Karen could not ask for help, so she personally set off for the front with the supplies, followed only by Farayaden and several African natives, as well as a cart carrying supplies and a few horses.
This time, the journey was long, during which Karen and her party encountered attacks from beasts of prey and threats from ethnic minorities, especially as a woman, who always had to worry about her safety at night, but fortunately, the African natives respected her, so that she was not threatened by any personal safety along the way.
On the way, she also met Dennis and her friends once, who advised her not to go, saying that it was too dangerous for women along the way, but she was determined to go. Dennis's friend asked Dennis to persuade her, but Dennis looked at her appreciatively and said, "I understand her." So he agreed to let her go on and gave her a compass to carry with him.
When Karen finally reached the front line after much difficulty, the men on the front line looked at her with admiration and automatically made way for her. When Burleson saw the disheveled Karen riding toward him on a horse, he humorously said, "You changed your hairstyle." ”
Among the men was the aristocratic old man named Drami, who was also full of admiration for Karen and offered to come forward to say hello.
Karen fell ill shortly after returning home in Kenya, with a high fever that did not go away, and the doctor said to her, "You have syphilis." ”
Karen shook her head, "It's impossible. ”
Doctor: "Isn't your husband sick?" ”
Karen: "He didn't last time we met, and if he had been back he would have been back a long time ago. ”
Doctor: "Everyone's degree is different, maybe his is very mild, but yours is very serious." The doctor asked again, "Is he the only possibility?" ”
Karen: "Yes. ”
Doctor: "Then you have to go back to Denmark to recuperate, you know?" And said: "Treatment is not easy. "Then the doctor reported a drug name.
Karen had heard of the drug, which was arsenic-containing, (at that time penicillin had not been promoted globally, so Karen could only be treated with arsenic-containing drugs, which caused irreversible damage to Karen's body due to toxins and heavy metals, which was the direct reason why she could not have children later) So she was conflicted, but the doctor said that if she did not treat it that way, her condition would only get worse, so she returned to Denmark for treatment after calling back to Berlison.
Because Ofleson's condition was mild and the farm needed to be watched, Berlison did not return to Denmark with her.
After two years of treatment, the doctor said that Karen's illness was cured, but she could no longer have children, and Karen could only accept reality. It wasn't long before she returned to Africa.
When she returned to Africa again, her African servants came out to greet her, and the African boy who had been treated by her became one of the servants of her family.
Looking at these kind Africans, Karen decided to run a school for their children. When she told Perleson about the idea, Perleson thought it would be controversial, but Karen insisted, telling the chief, "All the children have to come and get an education." ”
Fast forward to the New Year of 1919, at the New Year's party, Karen saw her husband and a woman stealing love, and she couldn't bear it and asked her husband to move away from home and live in the city.
In this way, Karen and Burleson separated, but Burleson would still come back regularly to ask Karen for money, and always ignored the farm.
When it came to the day of the coffee harvest, Karen worked hard like other workers, full of hope and waited for a good harvest, but the price of coffee that year fell, and the money earned from the harvest was not at all in contrast to the money spent, which was a big blow to Karen, but she refused to admit defeat and insisted on business.
When she was feeling down, Dennis came to her side and took her on a hunt and a break to give her a good look at the prairie scenery. He chatted with her, talked about what he had seen, washed her hair, showed her Mozart, danced with her.
She asked him, "Why are you taking me out?" ”
Dennis said, "I want you to see it all because I know you know how to appreciate it." ”
On the night after a picnic, the two sat by the campfire and Karen said to him, "I've had syphilis, so I went back to Denmark and the doctor said I could live a normal life now, but I couldn't have children." ”
Dennis looked into her eyes full of understanding and pity, and he said, "I understand, so you run the school." ”
She nodded.
One night, after dinner in the wilderness, the two danced a dance, and when they fell in love, they were a little silent with each other, and then they returned to their seats.
After a moment of silence, Karen got up and walked up to him, patted his right shoulder with her hand, and went into her own tent.
Maybe her tapping on the shoulder was a silent hint, Dennis immediately understood, and he chased after it and said to Karen, "I want to do that." ”
So they had their first intimate encounter.
The next day, they returned home in a happy mood, and on the way home Karen was thinking about her marriage to Perleson—Belison had moved to the city for a long time, and her marriage to Perleson was now in name only, but if she divorced Berlison now, even the title of countess would be gone, which might be detrimental to her running a farm in the area.
Dennis is undoubtedly a more suitable person in terms of personality and interests, but Dennis loves freedom by nature, and he may not necessarily be willing to marry her.
Unsure of her decision, Karen invited an elder she respected to dine at the house and cleverly threw up questions to ask him for advice.
The elder asked, "Is it Dennis?" ”
Karen asked nervously, "What do you think of him?" ”
The elder replied, "You have to be careful, ancient cartographers used to write 'Beyond here, full of beasts] when they painted the edges of the world." ”
Karen: "That's where I am now?" ”
The elder: "He likes to give gifts, but not at Christmas. ”
Karen nodded, "He didn't even say when he would come again. ”
Dennis arrived the next day, and after some wrangling, Karen asked him, "Can you stay?" ”
Dennis shook his head as he went hunting and traveling again.
He was free and did not want to be bound by marriage, but he knew in his heart that his feelings for Karen were real, so he discussed with Karen to move everything in his hotel to Karen.
Karen: "That means —are you going to come and go from here a lot in the future?" ”
Dennis nodded.
Karen happily agreed.
So Dennis moved his large collection of books and records to Karen's house and traveled.
Not long after, Dennis returned in a plane, which he had recently bought, and he took Karen to see Africa from the air, telling her to learn to see the world from God's point of view, he knew that Karen was a person who always wanted to change the status quo and prove the value of her existence, so she would do so many things in Africa, and he liked to face everything with an outsider mentality, because he felt that for the world or Africa, they were just passers-by.
Her positivity and his negativity caused the two to have many arguments later in their relationship, but they could not be separated because they appreciated each other.
In the days when he flew her, they always embraced each other warmly in the night, pouring out their bodies to each other as much as they could.
A few days later, he flew off again. But within a few days, he was back. Karen thought to herself, "Just keep that relationship." ”
One day, Karen went to town to watch horse racing and met Perleson, who offered to say that he had found a suitable woman to marry, so he wanted to divorce Karen.
At this point, Karen could only agree.
After losing the title of countess, Karen was in a depressed mood for a while, and she asked Dennis if she wanted a home, and Dennis shook his head, saying that he wouldn't love her more or less because of that piece of paper, so it didn't matter if there was that piece of paper.
Karen knew she couldn't convince him and had to give up.
From then on, her life except for the farm was to wait for him to return.
One night, Karen's farm suddenly caught fire, and the fire burned all the finished coffee, and Karen was in debt, and the fire burned out her only hope, and she squatted helplessly, looked at the raging fire and said, "It's all over." ”
She knew that she would never be able to stay in Africa again, but she wanted to help the African natives win a piece of land to survive on before returning to Denmark, because East Africa was already a British colony, and if they did not win a piece of land for these natives, they would face the fate of being expelled, which was the last thing Karen wanted to see, and in the years of running farms in Africa, she had developed a deep relationship with the natives, and she wanted to do her best to win this right for them.
So Karen went to see the land administrator and asked them to leave a piece of land for the natives, but the land administrator said that he did not have such a big right, so Karen went to see the local governor, and the local governor officially said: "This matter will be calculated later." Karen refused to give up and said to him, "This place is theirs, we have possessed them, and we should provide them with a place to live." ”
Only then did the magistrate say he would set aside a piece of land for them. Karen was afraid that he would break his word after he left, and stared at him tightly and asked, "Can you promise to do it?" ”
The magistrate was suddenly embarrassed, and at this moment, the lady of the prefect, who was sitting behind him, suddenly stood up and said to Karen, "I can promise to do it, you can rest assured." ”
Karen then got up.
Shortly after Karen got home, Dennis came and said to her, "You messed me up. ”
Karen asked, "What's the mess?" ”
Dennis: "The habit of being alone. ”
He offered to follow Karen back to Denmark. Karen was overjoyed.
But Dennis said he still had something to do but was able to come back on Friday and ask Karen to wait for him.
Karen agreed.
But instead of waiting for him to return, she waited for news of his plane crash — he crashed while flying through a national forest park, and he died as a result.
When Berlison came to inform Karen of the news, Karen was like five thunderbolts, looking at Perleson with a pale face, and could not believe it for a long time.
After burying Dennis, Karen left Africa, and it's worth mentioning that just as she was about to get on the bus, the men at the Muddygar Club invited her inside for a drink. The club, which had never allowed women in, had finally made an exception for her.
After returning to Denmark, Karen used the pen given to her by Dennis to write the novel "Out of Africa", in this novel, she wrote her experience in Africa for more than ten years with affectionate brushstrokes, which caused a great response after its publication, and was also nominated for the Nobel Prize in Literature twice, although it eventually missed the Nobel Prize in Literature, but it did not affect its global popularity.
According to some people who knew Karen and knew her experience, Karen and Dennis did fall in love, and Karen was pregnant with Dennis's children twice, but both ended up miscarrying. And Karen's relationship with her ex-husband has always been very friendly, which shows her open-mindedness.
The writer Hemingway, who had been to Africa and met the prototypes of Dennis and Burleighson, thought that Dennis was a very intelligent guy, but also had a very egotistical side, so he never got into marriage with Karen.
Some biographers, after learning about the lives and experiences of several of them, said that Dennis did not love Karen to the point of marriage, because Dennis not only maintained a close-secret relationship with Karen during his time in Africa, but also maintained a relationship with several other famous and attractive women, and went out with one of them a few days before the plane crash.
But of course, there was a time when Dennis went to karen more frequently, which showed karen's place in his heart, but he would not give up his usual lifestyle and other girlfriends because of this.
So, in Out of Africa, Karen spends a relatively short space writing about Dennis, and her tone is very peaceful, far less enthusiastic than her writing about farms and aborigines. But there was no denying that she had always loved Dennis, waiting for Dennis, and even though she knew that Dennis would not give him his whole, she was always in love with him.
On her return to Africa, Karen also maintained correspondence with her African servant Farayarden, who wrote in one of them: "After Dennis's death, his grave was often inhabited by two lions, one male and one female. It's probably also a good place for lions to look down on the whole Great Plain, and the wildlife on the plains. ”
Karen was deeply pleased with this.
"Out of Africa" begins with "At the foot of the Gonggang Mountains in Africa, I once had a farm", telling the author's experience in Africa for more than ten years, which uses a lot of ink to describe the people and landscapes there, and expresses the author's deep feelings for Africa, including a description that impressed me particularly - the day before she left, she met an African woman on the road who could not be named but knew. The two stood at a certain distance, looking at each other silently. Gradually she saw tears on the woman's face, but they continued to remain silent, and finally silently turned away from each other, taking different paths in their respective directions.
Later Karen kept a picture of the woman.
In 1985, "Out of Africa" was made into a film, starring Meryl Streep as Karen and Robert Redford as Dennis, and after the film was released, it won seven awards, which caused a sensation around the world and made the author himself famous, but the author himself said: "I prefer to live the life of an ordinary woman than these reputations." As she says in Out of Africa, "I'm often empty-handed because I've touched everything." ”
Although the acting skills of the two leading actors are impeccable, they have a certain distance from the prototype, and it is rare to say that the prototype is more beautiful and handsome than the actor.
"Out of Africa" is the author's personal experience, thousands of miles to the front line to transport supplies, resist all pressure to run a school for the aborigines, even if the farm fails to quit a native, do not hesitate to kneel down and ask the magistrate to leave a piece of soil for the aborigines, from not being valued by men to gaining the respect of men, her experiences let us see the tenacity, kindness and broadness of a woman. "Out of Africa" was written by herself, and it was also written by her to Africa and the world.
She and Hans Christian Andersen are known as Denmark's "national treasures of literature", and her former home in Africa is now a museum with a large collection of her photographs and books, which are visited by countless book and film fans every year.
Karen House
Karen and her African maids
Burleson prototype
When Karen was young
Dennis when he was young
Karen in old age
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